*Please consider adding <[email protected]> to your address book, which
will ensure that our messages reach you and not your spam box.*

*Read and share online:
<[link removed]>*


Dear Free Software Supporter,

Since the start of [our fundraiser][1], more than 260 new associate
members -- and even more donors! -- have answered the call to stand
strong with the FSF in support of the freedom to share. We're thrilled
and grateful to have received all the donations and membership
renewals that have contributed to our year-end drive. Because we are
ambitious, we had a goal of 455 new members by December 31. We haven't
achieved our membership goal yet, but since we've seen a strong show
of support in the latter half of our appeal we're extending the date
to join, receive all the [benefits of membership][2], and still
receive one of this year's snazzy and secure webcam covers we're
offering, to **January 20**.

[1]: [link removed]
[2]: [link removed]

Though small, the FSF staff is driven by our dedication to ensuring
that every computer user, everywhere, can get all the work (and play!)
that makes up their digital lives done without surrendering their
freedom. We hope that you'll help us continue in that mission as we
work toward accomplishing it. We rely on your support and the support
of others like you to keep up our work. Over the last few weeks, we
have reported on some aspects of this work, like [operating
sixty-three different services, platforms, and Web sites][3] for the
GNU Project, other free software projects, and the wider free software
community; taking to the streets to [talk with passersby about the
freedom to share][4]; [supporting developers and other members of the
community in the choice of a software license][5]; monitoring products
made by promising communities and companies to [help you to put
freedom first in your gift giving][6]; providing information how to
[protect your freedom by managing your privacy][7]; organizing the
[LibrePlanet][8] conference to provide a meeting place for the whole
community; [compiling the latest articles and events in the free
software community][9]; and more.

[3]: [link removed]
[4]: [link removed]
[5]: [link removed]
[6]: [link removed]
[7]: [link removed]
[8]: [link removed]
[9]: [link removed]

We're entering the FSF's thirty-eighth year of fighting for computing
freedom. As our year-end email from [FSF president Geoff Knauth][10]
mentions, the Free Software Foundation "was created in 1985
specifically to guarantee you, the individual person, the rights you
deserve as enshrined in the four freedoms against forces that seek to
limit and take away your rights and to make you a servant." We've made
headway toward making sure that software freedom is guaranteed in
every computing environment, but there's still a long way to go.

[10]: [link removed]

**Can you join the effort to protect the freedom to share as an [FSF
associate member][14]?** You can start for as little as $10 per month
($5 for students), or $120 per year. With your support, we can
continue to show people how the freedom to share can effect change in
all areas where software touches modern life. Besides that, your
membership gives strength to the *idea* of free software. Plus, your
membership will count towards achieving our goal of 455 new associate
members before January 20, and you will be eligible for this year's
snazzy and secure webcam cover when you join as an annual associate
member at $120 or more. You'll also be able to enjoy all the [member
benefits][2], which include merchandise discounts, a 16GB bootable
membership card, and use of our associate member videoconferencing
server.

[14]: [link removed]
[2]: [link removed]

An associate membership makes for more than just a show of support.
It's a way of acting on your principles and moral convictions, and
does your part to let the world (and especially the proprietary
software companies in it!) know that freedom should be the norm rather
than the exception.

Since each year brings new and worrisome developments on the part of
proprietary software, our commitment to freedom needs to be
*proactive* rather than merely reactive. Together, as the free
software community, we've already had a tremendous impact on freedom
in the digital world, but we shouldn't rest content here. We need to
work hard to reach the finish line, and bring digital autonomy to all.
Together, I know we can do it.

In freedom,

Miriam Bastian
Program Manager

--
* Follow us on Mastodon at <[link removed]>, GNU social at
<[link removed]>, PeerTube at <[link removed]>, and on Twitter at @fsf.
* Read about why we use Twitter, but only with caveats at <[link removed]>.
* Subscribe to our RSS feeds at <[link removed]>.
* Join us as an associate member at <[link removed]>.
* Read our Privacy Policy at <[link removed]>.

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1335
United States


You can unsubscribe from this mailing list by visiting

[link removed].

To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design,
and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, visit

[link removed].